Clockwork Wonderland contains stories from authors that see Wonderland as a place of horror where anything can happen and time runs amok. In this book you’ll find tales of murderous clockworks, insane creations, serial killers, zombies, and a blood thirsty jabberclocky. Prepare to see Wonderland as a place where all your worst nightmares come true. You may never look at classic children’s literature the same way again.

What is the most influential piece of horror literature ever written? Could it be Bram Stoker’s Dracula? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Perhaps something by Edgar Allan Poe, M.R. James, or H.P. Lovecraft? I think an argument could be made that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is the most influential piece of horror literature ever written. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass may be fantasy aimed at children, but they have inspired nightmares for children and adults alike.

A girl following a rabbit down a hole into a land of strange creatures where chaos reins supreme could be the premise of a great horror story. There are several different themes that run throughout the book and one of them is questioning your sanity. Nothing makes sense in Wonderland and at one point Alice says, “But I don’t want to be among mad people.” To which the Cheshire Cat responds, “Oh you can’t help that, we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re Mad.”

But is Alice really mad? Probably not, but she is entering a crazy world where the possibility of death lurks around every corner. To me Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is showing us how ridiculous society and the world around us can be. In order to understand reality, we create our own little Wonderland.

You could also say that Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland is a metaphor for adulthood and how we try to make sense of it. To a child like Alice, the world of adults is confusing and sometimes horrifying. After Alice makes her trip down the rabbit hole, she faces a loss of innocence. She is leaving the safety of childhood and all that is familiar to her. In the terrifying world of Wonderland, Alice is alone and death is her constant companion in the disguise of an angry queen and other bizarre creatures.

Alice has a vivid imagination and creates Wonderland because she is bored. Imagine if Alice was a horror writer, what kind of terrors would she create in Wonderland?

This leads us to the book you are about to read. Clockwork Wonderland contains fifteen stories from authors that see Wonderland as a place of horror where anything can happen and time runs amok. In this book you’ll find tales of serial killers, insane creations, a bloodthirsty jabberclocky, and zombies. Get ready to see Wonderland as a place where all your worst nightmares come true. You may never look at classic children’s literature the same way again.